Journalist Alex Renton is sent a secret membership list of a pro-paedophile group active in the 1970s and 80s. There are over 300 names on it. But where are the...
Journalist Alex Renton is shown a secret document, containing the names and addresses of people signed up to a pro-paedophile group called the Paedophile Information Exchange, or PIE, which was active in the 1970s and 80s.That’s not all: weeks after getting the membership list Alex meets a contact who gives him bags full of documents, crammed with reports, contact details, letters. As Alex starts following up on leads; detail of the criminal activities committed by some of PIE’s members, and those connected with them, begins to emerge.It’s a lot to take in. Alex is not only a journalist, he’s a survivor of child sexual abuse. All of this information about PIE; it feels like a heavy weight to carry. Are children still at risk? Alex sets off on a dizzying journey into the dark history of the Paedophile Information Exchange and uncovers abuses committed by PIE's members: teachers, clergy, social workers, government advisors.As Alex finds out more, he starts to wonder: where are all those hundreds of members now? He meets the former deputy editor of Private Eye, journalist Francis Wheen: he has a long memory for news and a nose for stories that people in power want to keep secret. What does he know about PIE?Archive credits: Newsnight, BBC, August 1983Details of organisations offering information and support for victims of child sexual abuse are available at bbc.co.uk/actionlinePresenter: Alex Renton
Producer: Caitlin Smith
Researchers: Claire Harris and Marisha Currie
Executive producers: Gail Champion and Gillian Wheelan
Written by Alex Renton, Caitlin Smith, Jack Kibble White and Kirsty Williams
Sound designer: Jon Nicholls
Theme tune composed by Jeremy Warmsley
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29:04
South Africa
Journalist Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, where he was sexually abused by a teacher. It wasn't until 2014 that Alex felt able to face his demons. He began writing about his experiences and that's when emails and letters started pouring in from other boarding school survivors, from around the country. The scale was breathtaking.In summer 2022 Alex presented the series 'In Dark Corners', in which he followed the path of predatory teachers as they made their way through Britain's most elite schools, where the abuse was either ignored or enabled. Few were charged. Many fled the country. In this fourth episode Alex picks up the stories of two teachers covered earlier in the series. 'Hubert' from episode 1 was a teacher at Ashdown House; an exclusive all boys school in Sussex, which includes Boris Johnson amongst its alumni. 'Edgar' from episode 2 taught broadcaster Nicky Campbell, amongst many others, at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College in Edinburgh. Both teachers have numerous allegations of sexual abuse against them spanning decades and continents. Both are now in South Africa. Will they ever be brought back to Britain to be tried in court?BBC Action Line support: Child sexual abuse:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/22VVM5LPrf3pjYdKqctmMXn/information-and-support-sexual-abuse-and-violenceProducer: Caitlin Smith
Presenter: Alex Renton
Editors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-Darling
Research in South Africa: Carol Albertyn Christie
Sound design: Jon Nicholls
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27:39
Aberlour & Gordonstoun
Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man. The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there. Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking. Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.In the last episode of this three series Alex heads north to Aberlour and Gordonstoun. Aberlour is a feeder school for Gordonstoun, where many of the Royal family were educated. The novelist William Boyd, a contemporary of Prince Charles called it 'a type of penal servitude'.Alex tells the story of two former pupils; both sexually assaulted by different teachers in the early nineties, and follows their struggle for peace and recompense. Producer: Caitlin Smith
Sound Design: Jon Nicholls
Editors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-DarlingPhoto: Alex at eight
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27:52
Eton to Fettes
Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man. The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there. Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking. Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.In the second of a three part series, Alex tracks how a prolific abuser was able to make his way through some of the UK's most elite schools - from Shrewsbury, to Bradfield and from Eton College to Fettes College in Edinburgh. Alex discovers that in the 1970s a number of paedophiles were operating at the same time in Fettes. One is still alive today.Producer: Caitlin Smith
Researcher: Claire Harris
Sound Design: Jon Nicholls
Editors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-DarlingPhoto: Alex at eight years old
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27:42
Ashdown House
Alex Renton attended three traditional private schools. When he was eight he left home and boarded at Ashdown House, a prep school in East Sussex; a feeder school to Eton College.Within weeks of his arrival he was sexually abused by a teacher. The teacher was never charged or even sacked. He died in 2011, a free man. The assault, compounded by the physical and emotional abuse so often a feature of boarding school life, has stayed with Alex. And like a great number of the million Britons alive today who attended these institutions, he spent the subsequent years trying to forget what had happened to him there. Then, in 2014, Alex finally decided he had to face his demons. He wrote a book, Stiff Upper Lip, about public schools and about the experiences he and others had within them. That’s when the emails and letters started pouring in. Former pupils, men and women, from all around the country, shared with him their stories of sexual and physical abuse. The scale was breathtaking. Now, years later, Alex Renton has unfinished business with Britain’s elite schooling system.In the first episode of a three part series, Alex returns to Ashdown House, where some of Britain's most powerful figures, including Boris Johnson and the Queen's nephew David Linley, were educated. From Sussex to South Africa, Alex tells the story of how a group of men, all subjected to horrendous sexual abuse, are still fighting to bring their abusers to justice. Producer: Caitlin Smith
Additional Research: Claire Harris
Reporting in South Africa: Nceba Ezra Singapi
Sound Design: Jon Nicholls
Editors: Gail Champion and Heather Kane-DarlingPhoto: Alex at eight years old
Journalist Alex Renton is sent a secret membership list of a pro-paedophile group active in the 1970s and 80s. There are over 300 names on it. But where are they now?
Ireland